8-Day Ultimate Wildlife & Luxury Safari

The Ngorongoro Crater first, then three days in the Serengeti and a final night in Tarangire.

8 days Luxury Ngorongoro, Serengeti & Tarangire From $5,669 per person

8-Day Ultimate Wildlife & Luxury Safari · 8 days

Package Overview

This route runs the Northern Circuit in reverse to avoid the crowds: straight to the Ngorongoro Crater on day two, then a Maasai village and Olduvai Gorge on the way to three nights in the central Serengeti. You come back through the highlands to Karatu and finish with Tarangire's elephants. Private game drives and top-end lodges throughout.

Highlights

The Big Five in the Ngorongoro Crater
Maasai boma and Olduvai Gorge
Three nights in the central Serengeti
Tarangire elephants and baobabs

Route map

Day 1 Kilimanjaro International Airport → Day 2 Ngorongoro Crater → Day 3 Olduvai Gorge → Day 4-5 Central Serengeti (Seronera) → Day 6 Karatu → Day 7 Tarangire National Park → Day 8 Kilimanjaro International Airport

Day-by-Day Itinerary

Day 1 • Arrival in Arusha

Arusha

We meet you at Kilimanjaro International Airport and drive you to your hotel in Arusha to rest and get ready for the safari.

Day 1 Accommodation, Arusha Meal Plan: Bed and breakfast

Where you'll stay:

Gran Meliá Arusha or similar

Day 2 • Arusha to the Ngorongoro Crater

Ngorongoro Crater

Your private guide collects you after breakfast for the drive to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and straight down into the crater. The caldera is about 3 million years old and 20 km across, the largest unbroken volcanic caldera in the world, and all of the Big Five live on its floor. You'll have at least six hours of game drives inside. Then back up to your lodge on the crater rim.

Day 2 Accommodation, Ngorongoro Crater rim Meal Plan: Full board

Where you'll stay:

Ngorongoro Lodge, Meliá Collection or similar

Day 3 • Maasai boma, Olduvai Gorge and the Serengeti

Olduvai Gorge

Visit a nearby Maasai boma to learn about their traditions, ceremonies and how they live alongside the wildlife, then stop at Olduvai Gorge, where Mary and Louis Leakey found early human fossils in 1959. Picnic lunch, then on into the Serengeti.

Activity · MAASAI BOMA VISIT

Visit a Maasai homestead for traditional songs and dancing, beadwork and stories of life alongside the wildlife.

Day 3 Accommodation, Central Serengeti Meal Plan: Full board

Where you'll stay:

Meliá Serengeti Lodge or similar

Day 4 • Full day in the central Serengeti

Seronera

The Seronera River valley has superb game viewing all year thanks to its resident animals, and it's best in the dry season from June to November when they gather near water. Expect impala, buffalo, hippo, topi, giraffe, lion and leopard.

Activity · HOT-AIR BALLOON SAFARI (Optional)

Lift off at dawn for an hour over the Serengeti, followed by a champagne bush breakfast. From $500 per person.

Day 4 Accommodation, Central Serengeti Meal Plan: Full board

Where you'll stay:

Meliá Serengeti Lodge or similar

Day 5 • Serengeti full day

Serengeti

Another full day on the plains with a picnic lunch. Around 500 bird species are recorded here, from ostriches and secretary birds to black eagles.

Day 5 Accommodation, Central Serengeti Meal Plan: Full board

Where you'll stay:

Meliá Serengeti Lodge or similar

Day 6 • Serengeti to Karatu

Karatu

A final morning game drive in the Serengeti, then back through the Ngorongoro highlands to a mountain lodge near Karatu.

Day 6 Accommodation, Karatu Meal Plan: Full board

Where you'll stay:

Ngorongoro O'ldeani Mountain Lodge or similar

Day 7 • Game drive in Tarangire

Tarangire

Pickup at about 8am for the 2.5-hour drive to Tarangire, famous for its elephant herds and baobab trees, some over a thousand years old. Zebra, giraffe, buffalo, lion and cheetah are common too. Picnic lunch by the Tarangire River and a game drive until evening.

Day 7 Accommodation, Tarangire Meal Plan: Full board

Where you'll stay: